COMPARISON OF A PEROXIDASE‐CATALYZED SANITIZER WITH OTHER EGG SANITIZERS USING A LABORATORY‐SCALE SPRAYER

Abstract

ABSTRACT Microbial and foodborne pathogen contamination of eggs continues to represent an important public health concern. The goal of this study was to compare the efficacy of spraying shell eggs with PCC (peroxidase‐catalyzed compound, Enzodine TM, Symbollon Corporation, Sudbury, MA) with that of other sanitizers in the reduction of surface microbial contamination using a laboratory‐scale sprayer apparatus. Treatments were distilled‐deionized water, PCC, chlorine (200 ppm), and quaternary ammonium (QA). Each egg was sprayed with 150 mL of the treatment over a 1 min period while being rotated at approximately 150 revolutions per min. Enumeration of aerobic plate populations indicated that all treatments (distilled‐deionized water, chlorine, PCC, and QA) significantly reduced the viable aerobic bacterial populations and Salmonella typhimurium when compared to the nonsprayed dry egg control. Spraying eggs with PCC resulted in a 6 logarithmic reduction in viable S. typhimurium populations on egg shell surfaces. Unlike results found with aerobic bacterial populations, PCC was not as effective in reducing levels of S. typhimurium to the extent of the chlorine and QA treatments (greater than 6 logarithmic reduction) but greater than 3 logarithmic reduction was observed with PCC as compared to distilled‐deionized water. This study suggests that PCC may be a viable alternative to chlorine and QA in the reduction of bacterial populations on shell egg surfaces and can be applied as a spray on egg shell surfaces.